Silicon will meet silicone in October issue of men's magazine
August 25, 2004: 7:09 PM EDT
Game Over is a weekly column by Chris Morris
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – She's a statuesque redhead with green eyes who stands 5'7". Her measurements are 36-22-36 and she's posing topless for the October issue of Playboy magazine.
Oh, just one thing... she's a video game character.
Her name's Bloodrayne and she'll make her naked debut alongside a feature in the upcoming issue of the men's magazine.
Joining her in the CGI photospread (which will accompany an article about the changing face of gaming) will be a handful of gaming characters. While not all the characters will appear in the pixilated buff, you can expect a lot of come hither looks from some butt-kicking women, including familiar faces from Midway's (MWY: Research, Estimates) "Mortal Kombat" and Namco's "Tekken" series as well as Vivendi's (V: Research, Estimates) upcoming "Red Ninja" and "Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude" and Sammy Studios' forthcoming "Darkwatch: Curse of the West". (See the accompanying pop-up gallery for some of the characters that were submitted to the magazine.)
"Majesco (MJSH.OB: Research, Estimates) thought it was all in good fun. The game's coming out that month and it's perfect timing," said Laura Heeb, a spokesperson for the "Bloodrayne" publisher. "BloodRayne is a very viable franchise now. It has definitely made the step up to a full-fledged video game franchise. The Playboy thing is nothing more than just another cool thing we can do with this franchise."
Playboy declined to comment on the pictorial feature, since the October issue won't hit stands for a couple of weeks.
Welcome to the weirdest stop yet on the gaming industry's 2004 Naked Olympics.
A quick recap, for those of you just tuning in: The games kicked off with Eidos' (EIDSY: Research, Estimates) May release of "Singles: Flirt Up Your Life". The game was a "Sims"-like clone that featured full frontal nudity and encouraged you to get your two characters to have sex. It earned a rare "Adults Only" rating from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. Because most retailers will not sell an AO game, Eidos offered it via download only. (A toned down "M" rated version is due on store shelves later this year.)
Due up later this year is the slightly less raunchy "Playboy: The Mansion" and the aforementioned "Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude," which sticks closer to "Animal House" or "American Pie"-style hijinks.
It seemed, for a while, that these would be the only players – but the layout in Playboy magazine ups the skin level substantially.
Meanwhile, waiting in the wings is another game that's bound to raise a few eyebrows: "The Guy Game". Basically, what you're looking at here is the bastardized love child of "Girls Gone Wild," college drinking games and The Tonight Show's "Jaywalking" segments. Real (not digitally animated) nubile coeds on spring break are brought onto stage and asked various trivia questions. If they answered wrong, they flash their breasts at the crowd. If you play the game right, you can see that flashing uncensored.
It's not a game that's likely to make friends amongst parents groups or conservative religious organizations. But developer TopHeavy Studios (really!) and publisher Take Two Interactive don't seem too concerned.
The growing presence of video game nudity and sexuality – both in and out of games – is something of a double-edged sword for the industry. On the one hand, female characters appearing topless could reinforce the outdated stereotype of gamers as shut-in losers who lack any sort of social skills.
On the other, it underlines how much older the audience for these games has gotten in recent years. According to the Entertainment Software Association, today's average game player is 29 years old. And the average game buyer is 36.
Be that as it may, the industry has been trying to attract more women gamers – and including characters that have been positive (albeit overly buxom) role models in a Playboy layout could potentially turn away that customer base.
That's part of the reason some publishers opted against their characters appearing nude.
"We spent a lot of time thinking about it," said Namco spokesperson Kristin Calcagno. "We wanted to move forward with the coverage opportunity, but we wanted to ensure that the characters would be seen as they are in the game. We ensured they were in poses and attire that were sexy, but were appropriate to their character. ... By no means do we hope anyone finds it offensive."
So why take the chance? Basically, Playboy's demographic is very much in line with the sweet spot of the gaming industry. Eighty-five percent are male. The average age is 33. And half of its readers make $75,000 or more per year.
That's a lot of men with cash to burn. And that's a lot of potential cash those publishers could be pocketing.
Morris, who (if his mother happens to read this) only buys Playboy for the articles, is Director of Content Development for CNN/Money. Click here to send him an email.
Akaran of Mistmoore, formerly Akaran of Veeshan I know I'm good at what I do, but I know I'm not the best.
But I guess that on the other hand, I could be like the rest.
sad doesnt cut it. This is so beyond sad and pathetic, that a new word needs to be made. A word with both powers combined. Which I will make now, Sathetic.
Sionistic wrote:sad doesnt cut it. This is so beyond sad and pathetic, that a new word needs to be made. A word with both powers combined. Which I will make now, Sathetic.
I knew a player on Veeshan who was not only sathetic, he was named Sathetic...or maybe that was Sinthetic...whatever, he fits the description Sion made!
why is it sad? why is it different admiring a nude painting or sculpture, or even a normal playboy model who is so heavily airbrushed that only a small percentage of her is real anyway?
it's just CG art. I don't think bloodrayne is all that great, but I think namco has some of the best CG artists in the industry.
I don't think this is especially bad either, it's art just as a picture of a normal model, which as Kyo said is so heavily airbrushed it looks nothing like the real thing anyway.
I am kind of looking forward to seeing this i must admit.
Funny that Kyoukan steps up to support the digital objectification of women.
This is sad to me as a man, because I have always thought it was lame for guys to be all into cartoon characters in terms of looks, and it is pathetic to me as a geek because there is truly great and very lifelike CGI work out there that should be in playboy long before lame ass video game art.
She Dreams in Digital
\"Led Zeppelin taught an entire generation of young men how to make love, if they just listen\"- Michael Reed(2005)
What makes you think all of the Playboy models are airbrushed that heavily? I went to school with one that posed and she was just that hot....another one was friends with one of my teammate's wives...and she was not airbrushed either.
It's not like Playboy is really breaking ground here. Anime hentaii has been around like forever.
Now if only they would have gotten the FFX girls nekkid...
"There is at least as much need to curb the cruel greed and arrogance of part of the world of capital, to curb the cruel greed and violence of part of the world of labor, as to check a cruel and unhealthy militarism in international relationships." -Theodore Roosevelt
That's OMGIAMRETARDEDCAUSEALOTISTWOWORDS of fun.
/fond memory
Akaran of Mistmoore, formerly Akaran of Veeshan I know I'm good at what I do, but I know I'm not the best.
But I guess that on the other hand, I could be like the rest.
What Mileena and the gang are doing in PlayBoy i have no idea,
but i am sure their goal is to sell magazines, so i assume they have some marketing plan as in that many gamers will buy this issue of Playboy?
I'm sure many will buy that Playboy issue thanks to that Leisure Suit Larry Gal
Akaran of Mistmoore, formerly Akaran of Veeshan I know I'm good at what I do, but I know I'm not the best.
But I guess that on the other hand, I could be like the rest.
Xzion, that would get my comp accesss at WVUP terminated imedately for the rest of the time I'm up there if I had accesseed it from there. Yeah, it's NWS.
Akaran of Mistmoore, formerly Akaran of Veeshan I know I'm good at what I do, but I know I'm not the best.
But I guess that on the other hand, I could be like the rest.
you would get your access taken away for looking at one of the most beautifully painted pieces of art in the history of mankind? what kind of a fucking country do you bumpkins live in? and you wonder why the rest of the world thinks you are a bunch of uncouth, moronic bullies.
I live in WV.
Calling most of the residents here uncouth and moronic is a compliment.
edit: and how is it beautifully rendered? It's a topless chick with zits for nips in a watercoloring. Not my kind of art at all..
Last edited by Akaran_D on August 26, 2004, 11:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Akaran of Mistmoore, formerly Akaran of Veeshan I know I'm good at what I do, but I know I'm not the best.
But I guess that on the other hand, I could be like the rest.
Mono and TS aren't NWS bud.
It was the link to the bare chested chick that was origionally an image instead of a link.
Akaran of Mistmoore, formerly Akaran of Veeshan I know I'm good at what I do, but I know I'm not the best.
But I guess that on the other hand, I could be like the rest.
My boss is 43 years old and still lives with his mom. His only companion is his dog named Sparky. He goes to church every Sunday and doesn't go a week without saying how stupid monkees are and how there is no way in hell we could of evolved from them (which is funny because we didn't actually evolve FROm them).
He might appreciate art but I'm not willing to take that chance. The last thing I want to hear is a 20 minute rant about the devil...or more monkees.
you would get your access taken away for looking at one of the most beautifully painted pieces of art in the history of mankind? what kind of a fucking country do you bumpkins live in? and you wonder why the rest of the world thinks you are a bunch of uncouth, moronic bullies
.
I am trying to figure out how a person's work rules apply to the country they live in. I bet there are some companies in Canada that would have the same rules. Not every post has to be about how much you think the U.S. sucks.
When I was younger, I used to think that the world was doing it to me and that the world owes me some thing…When you're a teeny bopper, that's what you think. I'm 40 now, I don't think that anymore, because I found out it doesn't f--king work. One has to go through that. For the people who even bother to go through that, most assholes just accept what it is anyway and get on with it." - John Lennon
Lynx- We're not actually responsible for catering to the damaged or deranged. The lowest uncommon denominator does not rule everyone elses sensibilities. If your boss is an incomplete human being thats his damage and your misfortune, but it is not reasonable to expect everyone else to cater to him. Fine art is fine art- whether its to your or Akarans' personal taste or not isnt really relevant. The Venus de Milo or the Statue of David may not be to your taste, but "I dont like her boobies" or "he's hung like a weasel" are hardly valid criticisms to dismiss them as works of art, quite apart from missing the point of the works.
Sorry about your boss though, thats gotta sorta suck.
Didn't one of Munch's original versions of "The Scream" just get stolen from a Norwegian art museum recently? Or am I even more sleep deprived than I thought?
Last edited by Deneve on August 28, 2004, 2:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
Kilmoll the Sexy wrote:What makes you think all of the Playboy models are airbrushed that heavily? I went to school with one that posed and she was just that hot....another one was friends with one of my teammate's wives...and she was not airbrushed either.
Your trophey never fakes it, either.
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